17 of the weirdest facts you didn't know about the 'Real Housewives' franchises

The "Real Housewives" franchise make up some of Bravo's
most popular shows, spanning from New York to Beverly Hills and
beyond.

What goes on behind the scenes may be even more
dramatic than what you see on television.

These are 17 things you probably didn't know about the
"Real Housewives" franchise.

From the outside, Bravo's
"Real
Housewives" appears
ultra-glam. There are luxurious trips, fancy cars, and designer
clothes, all appearing among drama-packed feuds as well as silly,
meme-worthy moments.

Sometimes, it's hard to know what
exactly is real about the popular reality show. Are those phone
calls happening in real time? Is the drama organic?

These 17 strange, little-known
facts prove that sometimes the truth behind the glamorous world
of reality television is much stranger than fiction - and the
lines between the two are often blurry.

The "Real Housewives" franchise isn't limited just to the United States.

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"Real Housewives of Vancouver."

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Slice

Though the show has seen hundreds
of wives in its iterations across the country, spanning from
Beverly Hills and Orange County to New York and New Jersey, those
aren't the only wives on TV screens.

International versions
of the show, including "Real
Housewives of Vancouver," "Real Housewives of Athens," and "Real
Housewives of Israel," are broadcast in their respective
countries.

Vicki Gunvalson is the first (and longest-running) housewife in the original franchises.

Gunvalson was a member of the
original "Real Housewives of Orange County" cast, which made up
the very first version of the show.

Over nearly 13 years, fans have
seen Gunvalson in just about any and every situation, from
screaming about "never
having been with multiple partners" on a ski slope to
screaming about being
forced to ride in a "family van" to the airport.

"Real Housewives of Atlanta" scores the highest ratings most consistently.

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Nene Leakes on "Real Housewives of Atlanta."

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Bravo

The wives of Atlanta
tend to garner
the most consistent ratings. Nene
Leakes was, at one point, considered the "highest rated" castmate
in the franchise. At its peak, "RHOA" captured an audience of
nearly 4 million live viewers.

Recently, though, "Real
Housewives of Orange County" came out on top in terms of ratings.
Currently, it's the
most-watched version of the series.

Bethenny Frankel may be a millionaire now, but she made way less her first season.

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Bethenny Frankel.

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Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

Bethenny Frankel is known as one
of the show's biggest breakout stars, having used her fame to
create
major wealth
for herself and her business,
SkinnyGirl Cocktails.

In 2015, Frankel
told INSIDER she made only $7,250 total for her
first season as a castmate on the show.

The first castmate to ever throw a glass of wine was Tamra Judge.

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The moment the wine was thrown.

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Bravo

Wine throwing has become a "Real
Housewives" signature move, all thanks to
the originator
of the action: "Real Housewives
of Orange County" star, Tamra Judge.

At the time, Judge was fighting
with a former cast member, Jeana Keough, and threatening her with
a "cyst and deceased." After things got heated, Judge threw red
wine in Keough's face. Eventually, Judge apologized.

Since then, Brandi Glanville,
Danielle Staub, and many other wives have taken to chucking vino
during heated arguments.

And the first wife to ever walk off a reunion was Ramona Singer.

Reunion walk-offs have become par
for the course, with wives bolting due to sadness, anger, or just
for dramatic effect. "Real Housewives of New York" castmate
Ramona Singer was the first to
walk off at a
reunion, simply
because she didn't want to continue the conversation.

As the rest of the cast discussed
fellow wife Alex McCord's nude photos, Singer made her exit. At
the time, she said she had to use the restroom, but it was
later revealed Singer
was uncomfortable with the racy subject manner and the
possibility of her daughter being somehow affected by the
topic.

Cast members have claimed that some on-camera phone calls are staged.

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Teresa Guidice on "Real Housewives of New Jersey."

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Bravo

According to the aforementioned
McCord, scenes in which the shows' stars are using the phone
are usually doctored. According to accounts, producers will
instruct castmates to call each other at pivotal moments of high
emotion, usually when the timing is ripe for drama.

And those dining scenes can apparently be filmed during very weird hours.

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"The Real Housewives of Orange County."

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Bravo

Turns out "Real Housewives" stars
don't eat in the emptiest restaurants in their respective cities.
Instead, McCord revealed, producers arrange for the stars to eat
at off-peak hours in restaurants. Why? The answer is surprisingly
technical.

A crowded restaurant means more
people could end up on film. For people to appear on television,
they must sign release forms. The more people there are in a
restaurant, the more releases production is responsible for
procuring. To avoid losing track of all the extra paperwork,
production asks the wives to eat meals before or after typical
times. For example, the cast might grab lunch at 10:00 a.m. as
opposed to noon.

Reunions take a ton of time to film.

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"Real Housewives of Atlanta" reunion.

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Bravo

Reunions typically air in
two-to-three-part specials, all broken up into around an hour per
special episode. Filming the reunion actually takes up to twelve
hours,
according to
E! Online.

The idea for "Real Housewives" came from a not-so-real television show.

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"Desperate Housewives."

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ABC

According to former "Real
Housewives of Orange County" cast member Gretchen Rossi, the
inspiration behind the franchise was the fictional television
drama "Desperate Housewives."

"[Desperate Housewives] inspired
the 'Real
Housewives' franchise,"
Rossi
told Hollywood.com in 2012. "Honestly, I feel I
owe a lot to ["Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry] for
creating a show that inspired a real-life version.

One of the show's greatest villains may have paid for his spot on the series.

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Slade Smiley and Gretchen Rossi.

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Bravo

Slade Smiley was known for dating
multiple members of the "Real Housewives of Orange County" cast,
but Smiley's role on the Bravo show may have started with a
$2,500 donation.

"It was something that he
wanted to do, we were engaged and as corny as it sounds, I did it
for love," Rosa said on the 100th episode anniversary
special.

Smiley went on to date another
wife, Gretchen Rossi, with whom he's now expecting a child. The
two are no longer on the show.

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" has a strange connection to a Jonas Brother.

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Kathy Wakile and Kevin Jonas.

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Evan Agostini/Invision/AP / Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

In 2014, Former "Real Housewives
of New Jersey" star Kathy Wakile
enlisted the help
of Kevin Jonas to build her New
Jersey mansion. Jonas served as the contractor for the project,
and runs his own business based out of the state.

"Kevin has an extensive knowledge
of home automation and electronic features for the home," Wakile
said.

The shows apparently weren't always going to be known as "Real Housewives."

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Beverly Hills.

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Flickr/Tony Hisgett

According to a lawsuit filed
against Bravo, the
original idea for "Real Housewives of Orange County" was a show
allegedly called "Behind the Gates." The title came from the
gates surrounding Coto de Caza, a private neighborhood in Orange
County, California, where some of the cast lives.

For its part, "Real Housewives of
New York" was allegedly going to be known as "Manhattan Moms"
when it first came to development in 2007,
according to
Alex McCord.

Teresa Giudice served her prison sentence in a location that may sound familiar.

In 2015, "Real Housewives of New
Jersey" breakout star Teresa Giudice was
sentenced to serve a 15-month stint at Danbury, a
correctional institution in Danbury, Connecticut.

The prison was
the inspiration
for the facility featured in
"Orange Is the New Black."

According to a former cast member, Housewives sign contracts to prevent them from suing each other.

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It is in their Bravo contract not to sue each other, according to a former cast member.

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Bravo

"Real Housewives of New York"
cast member Carole Radziwell
said in 2014
that she was unable to sue fellow
"RHONY" star Aviva Drescher for accusing her of using a
ghostwriter on her book because she had signed away the
right.

"There were people who were
saying, 'Why don't you sue?' It's not an easy answer," Radziwell
told BuzzFeed. "There were several reasons. One is we sign
contracts, so we can't sue each other. So you'd have to break the
Bravo contract."

Wives are able to sue, according
to Radziwell, but only if they're willing to break a contract
with the network. In her case, Radziwell said she didn't want to
take on Bravo.

Housewives are reportedly instructed not to discuss being on the show while they're on the show.

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Lisa Vanderpump in a confessional.

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Bravo

In 2014, Radziwell also told
BuzzFeed that she was unable to refer to any behind-the-scenes or
production-based incidents that might break the fourth
wall.

"We can't say that on the show
because it refers to the show," Radziwell said.

Instead, confessionals are filmed
in the present tense, with the women discussing events that
likely happened months ago, sitting in rooms designed to look
like their homes,
according to
former "Real Housewives of New
York" castmate Aviva Drescher.

Aviva Drescher alleged that wives who bring the drama are rewarded.

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Drescher and her prosthetic leg.

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Bravo

Drescher appeared on two seasons
of "RHONY" and was known for her feuds with several castmates,
which culminated in Drescher throwing her prosthetic leg during a
finale episode. In explaining herself, Drescher revealed that
producers reward castmates who stir things up.

According to
Drescher, she was given an
eight-week contract and told that, if she "delivered drama"
during that time, her contract would be extended. Drescher
accused the aforementioned Radziwell of hiring a ghostwriter, and
according to Drescher, her contract was extended.